Dearly Beloved
by spiritgirl16
Summary: AU:The tides of destiny are ever-changing. From their first meeting Sora felt drawn to him, he was the light she didn't know she needed; the guiding star in her empty void of a sky. Like three hearts beating as one she was stronger because of him, and so when darkness tries to steal him away-three hearts become one to protect him. Male!Kairi. Fem!Riku Stronger!Smarter!Fem!Sora.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.**

 _A/N: I've been in a kingdom hearts mood, especially after FINALLY getting a release date(kinda.) for KH3! And well, I also came to notice there aren't really a whole of genderbent fics out there, and I wanted to do something a little different so...ta-da!_

 ** _warning(s):_** Fem!Sora. Fem!Riku. Male!Kairi. AU. Some possible OOCness. Possible swearing. Mentions of Violence.

 ** _Enjoy!_**

* * *

 _Prologue_

* * *

 _Long ago all the world was connected, and a warm light covered it._

 _The people all loved the light, and, at length, they began to fight over it._

 _Darkness was born in the people's hearts._

 _The darkness swallowed many hearts and much light, and before long, it had spread far, and the world disappeared into the darkness._

~/~

The sound of the rolling waves soothed young Sora, as she sat in the warm sand watching the sun dip just past the point where sea met the sky. She was tired and downtrodden after being shown up by Riku yet again. This time it'd been in a simple race. Seriously, she still liked Riku, they were best friends and all, but why did she have to be so good at everything!

The two had gone their separate ways for the day. Before leaving the island, however, Sora wanted to go wave-watching.

She told Riku...that a voice was calling her. At the time she wasn't lying, it was soft, hypnotic, even. The silver-haired girl only scoffed at her, though, claiming she hit her head too hard when she fell off that ramp during the race. Sora huffed and stormed away like the child she was.

Neither Sora nor Riku could have guessed how this turn of events would have impacted them later on.

A flash of red caught her eye; she turned to get a better look and shot up at what she saw-

"A boy!?" She whispered, shocked. She took off in a frantic dash towards the shoreline of the beach. Where a boy had just washed up onto the damp sand, still half submerged, with scorching fiery red hair, undertones the same burnt orange as the sunset behind him capturing the last streams of glimmering light in vibrant ruby hues.

"H-hey! Are-are you...okay!?" Sora stammered, struggling to keep her cool. How long had he been like this? Did he…come from a different world?

"Who…are you?" Sora asked, voice softer now. She knelt down beside the mysterious boy, seeing that his eyes weren't even open yet.

"Where did you come from….?"

~/~

 _Light. His home had been full of vibrant, warm and inviting light._

 _The light had illuminated the area around him, bathing him in its warm, comforting embrace. And for a moment that was enough for Kaito; He had the light. He had his grandmother, and his grandfather. He was home._

 _What more could he have wanted?_

 _"Kaito listen to me." His grandfather would say, looking at him with those burning molten eyes. "You are young now, but do not let those foolish tales your Grandmother weaves deceive you. Your light-it is so powerful. It should be channeled along with an equally powerful source of darkness!" Kaito blinked, something akin to hurt flashing through his eyes while looking up at his grandfather._

 _"Darkness? But...but I…" Kaito started to say, but he let his gaze drop once more, not wanting to fight with one of his precious people._

 _So he shook his head, pushing such sad thoughts away, and he painted on a smile while holding out his little hands. The riceball he had made into the shape of a deformed head, proudly displayed in his hand. "I-...I made this! So that way you can continue to work hard, and think of me and Grandma while you do." The little boy insisted, beaming when he saw the slow smile spread along his grandfather's lips._

 _He felt fingers comb through his short auburn hair, pushing it away from his eyes. He smiled watching his grandfather take the makeshift riceball and carefully set it on the desk before turning back to him, kneeling, and holding young Kai by his arms looking into his eyes._

 _"You are a truly wonderful boy, Kai. And someday you and I will-" The old man stopped himself, his hand stilling in his grandchild's hair._

 _"Grandpa, what's wrong? You look...sad."_

 _"Because our time together is almost at an end. We will have to say good bye very soon, but don't worry," he smiled again. "Even if we should get separated...your light would bring us together again."_

Kaito felt something warm beneath his fingers. ' _Sand_?' He thought feeling it slip between his fingertips with ease.

He could numbly register a voice, it sounded close by. With great effort, albeit weakly, his lashes finally fluttered open, his senses clearing a little more from their befuddled state. His eyes were a perfect spring sky, to just call them a simple shade of blue was like saying the sun was yellow. Sufficient but not accurate to capture the burning myriad of emotion swirling around.

"Who...are you?" It was a girl. He saw short almond-colored hair. He couldn't quite make out her eyes though…

"I-…" His voice cracked, and he felt himself shiver when another wave rolled on top of him.

"H-hold on!" The girl stammered, scrambling for a moment. "I-I'll get you outta the water first, yeah, that's a good plan." She muttered, mostly to herself, looking around for something. Kaito couldn't fathom what at the moment; he was a little too tired to worry about it.

He felt warm hands grab onto him, dragging him away from the shoreline with as much gentleness as the poor girl could manage. Even if, in Kaito's opinion, it wasn't very much. Still, it was kind of adorable the way her face flushed, and how she rambled to herself over her next course of action.

Kaito was surprised when he found himself being cradled in the mystery girl's lap. Strands of damp auburn hair clung to his face, and his body shook from the cold. He let out an audible sigh of relief when something- a blanket?- was being draped across his shoulders.

He felt his eyes starting to drift close, the adrenaline pumping through his veins starting to finally wear off.

"Where did you come from…?" The girl asked, only he didn't have the strength left to answer.

He succumbed to the sweet bliss of unconsciousness. A voice whispering in his head, over and over.

 _Keyblade…Keyblade..._

* * *

 **Review.**


	2. Inviting Light

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or anything associated with it.**

 _A/N: KH3 is almost here! I'm getting so hyped that I've been on somewhat of a KH binge as of late, and actually managed to finish another chapter, aaand after seeing the latest trailer I can safely say this story will officially be AU, especially in terms of the whole Vanitas/Ventus stuff. Enjoy!_

 ** _Warning(s): AU. Genderbending. Fem!Sora. Male!Kairi. Fem!Riku. Possible OOCness. Mentions of violence. Mentions of possible gore. Possible Swearing._**

* * *

 _Inviting Light_

* * *

" _You've finally done it, V-"_

 _The voice of a girl spoke out, echoing, out over the barren, scarred wasteland around her and the other; a girl with blonde hair and armor. In each of their hands was a blade-sized key- **Keyblade**. There were no signs of life other than them, no signs of forestry around, and no wildlife. The sound of turbulent winds and a non-existent storm from somewhere farther away roaring in the background._

 _The masked girl, the one who spoke, let out a bone-chilling laugh that sent shudders racing down Sora's own spine. The black mask started to dissolve, fading away to reveal a face underneath. She couldn't see it though, the image running like static, skipping over certain words and obscuring visual presentation constantly. Still, she continued talking, unaffected._

" _Now that my body is about to perish...you and I will have to join together!"_

" _The X-Blade **will** be forged!"_

'X _….Blade?' Sora thought, watching the images blur even further, fizzling like the white bars of static on a tv screen. Voices became distorted and gravelly, and it was no longer clear who was speaking in her mind._

" _Our union was not finished-…..complete the-…Key-Blade!"_

"… _.-Better idea, how about I-…."_

" _Hahahaha!…...-destroy it, your heart will vanish-..."_

 _The voices became more and more distorted. Any visual images were too broken apart to tell what was going on. Then, in an instant, everything was clear again with the images washing away and a single voice ringing clear through the nothingness._

" _Whatever it takes. Anything to save-!"_

 _There was another brief flicker of distortion._

" _My friends are my power, and I'm theirs!"_

Slowly a pair of sapphire blue eyes drifted open, aimlessly staring up at the ceiling with a glazed look to them before the owner of the eyes released a heavy sigh. "That dream again…." The girl said with just a twinge of contempt seeping into her voice. Soon she blinked a few times, adjusting to waking up when there was so little light. She swung her legs off the side of her bed sitting upright and looking over towards her alarm clock shaking her head a moment later when it read only 3:25 in the morning.

"Great, another early start on my day I guess." She said already knowing trying to go back to sleep would be a lost cause, so she pulled herself out of the bed. The bright shine of the stars twinkling in the night sky being visible through the curtains on her window making her pause in a moment of recollection. A soft smile tugging at the fourteen year old girl's face for just a moment, thinking of how the stars reminded her of a very different certain bright-eyed redhead she knew.

"I wonder if he'd be mad if I..."she trailed off, eyes doing a quick sweep of her bedroom. Then giving herself a firm nod, she decided to go for it.

Sora was glad it was the start of summer vacation for them, otherwise she wouldn't dare do what she was about to do-well, to anyone beside Kai at the very least. And that was to wake him up. Finding the house that was his was easy since she'd been over quite a lot since that fateful day of finding him washed ashore, the two immediately forming some kind of strange connection. It was one very unlike what she and Riku had shared growing up together.

No one was up yet, no doubt providing Sora with at least another solid 2-3 hours before having to worry. She couldn't see all that well in the dark, so she didn't want to risk climbing.

~/~

Kai was awoken by the soft, yet steady sound of something thwacking against the door leading out to the balcony of his second floor room. He was immensely thankful when the kind-hearted mayor of what he found was called, Destiny Islands, had so graciously allowed him to move in with the elder man stating how he loved children though was sadly unable to have any of his own. Kai had insisted he didn't wish to cause any trouble, but the mayor was hearing none of it, insisting heavily a child like him should not be out and about on on his own.

A soft noise of grogginess slipped from his slightly parting lips, rubbing the lingering sleep out of his eyes and shuffling to the door.

A quick glance at his clock hanging on the wall told him it was only 4:25 am, leading him to guess it could only be one person…

He offered a small smile towards the girl below, seeing the way her face beamed when he came into view. She cleared her throat getting down on one knee, rather dramatically given that it was still pitch dark outside.

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your golden hair~" She whispered, just loud enough to be heard. And Kai couldn't help the small chuckle of amusement at the other's antics.

Kai leaned on his forearms against the railing, oblivious to just how much of a prince he looked in Sora's eyes in that moment, bathed in moonlight as he was. His hair reminded Sora of a rich burnt red sunset just over the horizon of their islands sandy shores, albeit a little more tousled than usual having just rolled out of bed. His eyes a perfect spring sky, with a smile warmer than the gentle sun while he laughed. Wordlessly he rolled down a ladder made of sturdy rope and wood for her to climb up on.

"Another rough night?" He asked patiently once she was safely on the deck, pulling the ladder up behind her just in case.

Sora nodded, offering a repentant smile while she scratched the back of her head. "Sorry, I just...kind of wanted to see you. I didn't want to wake you, at least, not if you were…I don't know, super tired or..something..." She mumbled. Kai frowned a little bit noticing the bags under her eyes. He bit his lip, hesitating a bit while he slowly reached forward, his hands touching along the sides of her face causing her to shiver at the sudden warmth.

"How many times has this been happening?" He asked, catching the way her eyelids dropped a little while standing. He guided her over to his bed, lightly pushing her down so she was at least sitting.

"It used to just be once every week or so, but now...honestly, I'd say about….maybe three to four times a week." She said tiredly, her shoulders sagging some. "I try and go back to sleep, but it just...happens again. It's like there's this video playing in my head, and it's all static….the voices, faces, none of them are clear to me."

Kai took a seat next to her. Worry shone in those sincere blue eyes of his, and it made Sora's chest tighten thinking she was the cause.

"Kai, am I...going crazy, do you think?" Sora finally asked, fidgeting some. The last thing she wanted to know was that she was going insane, but….what else could it be?

Kai looked at her, and she inhaled sharply.

"I've been having...these weird thoughts lately." Sora admitted. Her blue eyes taking on a slightly more glazed look to them. "Like, is any of this for real? The dreams, I mean."

"Maybe..."Kai started to say, using his fingers to brush away the unruly strands of almond-colored hair covering Sora's own eyes. "Maybe, it's someone's way of saying they need your help?" He offered, not wanting to see a friend, or anyone really, suffer like Sora was. "Remember what Riku said that one night?" He added.

Sora's face scrunched up in thought. "You mean, that thing about the stars? And the other worlds?"

Sora didn't miss the way Kai seemed to flinch at the topic of other worlds. A part of Sora wondered if maybe something bad happened to his, that day he washed ashore.

"Yeah." Kai answered back, giving another soft smile. "Maybe it's the same thing with dreams, and someone, somewhere other than here really needs your help."

"Well, what can I do?"

"I can't answer that." Kai admitted, shaking his head sadly at the soft admission. "Only you can, and wherever you go your heart will guide you. Always."

"My heart?" Sora repeated, looking at Kai curiously. Seeing the boy blush a bit.

"It's uh...it was just something that popped into my head. I don't know where it came from….sorry."

"No, I think I like it." Sora said, contemplating the saying for a moment. "It's nice."

The two sat for a while longer, in silence, content with just having the other near for a few more precious moments. Sora being the first to break the silence that settled over them. "Y...you know uh, K-Kai I uh…." She swallowed, her face as red as a tomato suddenly. Oh how Riku would tease her if she ever saw.

"Oh, the sun." Kai's voice cut her off, the boy looking over her shoulder seeing the first rays of sunshine start to slowly crawl out onto the surface of the water. "Wow, it's amazing. Isn't it Sora?" He said, moving suddenly to stand out on the balcony.

Meanwhile Sora deflated back on the bed, grumbling something about a ' _stupid sun_ ' and how she ' _missed her chance_ ' just before a loud yawn came spilling from her lips. She stretched, pleasantly surprised at just how comfortable Kai's bed felt underneath her. The ocean breeze coming through the window was drowned out by the oh so enticing scent of sweet vanilla and a hint of citrus - _Kai's scent_ \- lulling her into the sweet embrace of sleep.

"Sora?" Kai said aloud when several more seconds ticked by and he still heard no response from the brunette. He turned partially, blinking some at what he saw. Sora was passed out, snoring away softly...on _his_ bed. Her limbs sprawled around her, looking content.

"Oh Sora…."Kai mumbled, shaking his head with a light-hearted smile. "You dummy."

Kai smiled affectionately walking back over to stand beside the bed, running gentle fingers through the girls disheveled hair.

"Terra….Aqua..." Kai's hand stilled in her hair, kneeling down and seeing the pained expression carved out on her face.

" **K** e **y-** b **l** a **d** e." Sora's voice mixed in with another, much darker one suddenly. Her eyes flitting open, changing color briefly causing Kai's brow to crease a bit in concern.

"Sora?" He whispered gently. Hearing her mumble something incoherent, Kai tried to lean closer, only to let out a small noise of surprise when the girl's arm shot out and trapped him, yanking him down beside her.

"S-Sora, hey!" He yelped.

~/~

"Where the heck have you been, Sora!?" A familiar brunette yelled out, her appearance around the same age as Sora and her friends, dashing towards Sora and Kai who had just set foot on the dock of the island that was like their home away from home, where they play together with Riku and some of their other friends.

"Selphie, how are you today?" Kai greeted politely. The girl blushed suddenly finding a new interest in her feet.

"Oh um, I'm well Kaito, h-how are you?" She asked cheerfully. Selphie was a tad shorter than Sora, with about the same shade colored hair, though hers seemed a bit lighter. She had a tan complexion and these big round green eyes, and her hair went in kind of a half-loop upwards just above her shoulders. She wore a yellow dress with white buttons where the straps were located, and simple wooden sandals.

Kai just chuckled, flashing another kind smile at the girl which, if possible, made her blush even harder. Sora felt a small pinch of annoyance at how easily the other girl became distracted, clearing her throat and waving a hand in front of Sephie's dazed face snapping the other from her reverie. "Sorry Sephie, we uh, got caught up in something important this morning. Anyway, what's up?"

Sephie looked suspicious, her eyes darting between them. Though, much to Sora's discomfort, whatever the case, Sephie immediately decided it was most likely Sora's fault shooting the slightly taller girl a stern glare. "You weren't trying to get Kaito to go along with one of your dumb little pranks, were you?" She demanded with her hands on her hips.

" _My_ dumb pranks? I told you that jump rope thing was Tidus and Wakka's idea!" Sora defended. The two having some kind of staredown.

"Girls come on, don't fight." Kai said getting between them, setting a hand on each of their shoulders. The two immediately took a step back, Sora heaving a sigh as she did. Sephie regarding Kai with a dreamy far-off kind of look. "Sephie, where are Wakka and Tidus? Did something happen?" Kai asked, repeating Sora's earlier question.

"Well Wakka is off trying to improve his ball throwing technique he says, and last I checked Tidus is practicing up near the ship deck. They both say they want to challenge Riku again real soon, so they need to focus and can't be bothered a whole lot." She huffed, pouting some. "They're both so mean to me!" She whined, and Sora gave out a very un-ladylike snort earning another quick glare from Sephie.

"Maybe _you_ should practice some too Seph? Last I check, I did end up thrashing you last time we sparred." Sora suggested.

"You mean in the same way Riku always thrashes _you_." She shot back, and Sora twitched a bit.

"That was yesterday, today will be different!" Sora snapped. Sephie only rolled her eyes, while Kai was looking a bit put out at the idea of his two closest friends fighting….again. It made another pang of guilt surge through Sora, turning her eyes elsewhere.

"Anyway, that's not important right now!" Sephie declared, turning frantic once more. "Riku's been looking everywhere for you guys, and she looked pretty mad, Sora!" Sora's jaw twitched.

"Like it's my fault!"

"It is!" Sephie insisted. "Everyone knows how punctual Kai is, he's just too much of a gentleman to lay the blame on you as well." She said nodding, looking quite satisfied with her reasoning skills.

"You know what, that dress makes you look fat." Sora said plainly.

" _What_ did you say!?"

"I said-"

"Jerkface!"

"Girls come on!" Kai said, trying again to break the two apart.

~/~

Shoulder length silver hair billowed in the oncoming sea breeze that blew past the face of a girl with bright bluish-green eyes. She had a lithe form showing none of the true power she possessed, about the same height as Sora, with fair skin. Her silver hair falling to about her shoulders with long bangs going against her face, some falling over her eyes even. Her attire consisting of a no-sleeve shirt, yellow in the front and black in the back, with two straps going across the area of her bust in the shape of an 'X'. She wore short jean shorts with knee length black socks coming out of her white and blue shoes, and her favorite black wristless gloves.

Her eyes, brimming with an intensity that had only grown since meeting a certain auburn-haired boy, stared out in contempt at the far-reaching ocean that seemed to spin on endlessly past the horizon, forever out of reach for someone like her. She was sitting alone on one of the smaller patches of land, connected by a bridge, sitting on the trunk of one of the more bent palm trees.

"Such a small island." She said in contempt.

Many of the other populace she hung out with had labeled her a girl of few words, rarely opening up with anything but a cool indifference to those not deemed her friends. And among the few there were very few who fit in such a description, the main two being Sora and Kaito. Sora, well, they had been best friends for as long as either of them can remember so that was a given. Sora always being the more open-minded and energetic of the two, and her warm, inviting personality was what initially drew people in from the start.

Sora reminded Riku of fire; she was bright, warm and a comforting thing to have around in times where one usually preferred solitude.

In a sense, Sora was the fire whereas Riku was like the Ice in their relationship. And to a miraculous degree, it somehow evened out.

Then there was Kaito.

' _Kaito_.' Riku felt a stir of emotion at the memory of the boy.

" _What do you mean he just 'showed up' suddenly?" Riku had demanded the moment she found out about the mysterious boy. Being put more on edge when she discovered that it was 'Sora' who had discovered him first, before anyone else. Even the mayor whom she wound up bringing Kai to._

" _It's the truth!" Sora had insisted looking frantic. "I was just out watching the waves, and suddenly he appeared! I tried asking his name, but-"_

" _Sora."_

 _B_ _oth girls turned at the sound of the mayor's voice. He was a robust, short stature man wearing a tweedy jacket that smelled of fresh coffee beans. He came walking over, a look of relief etched onto his features._

" _Ah Mr. Mayor, how is he?" Sora asked excitedly._

" _He's doing much better now, in fact...he's asking specifically for you."_

 _Sora blushed. Riku coming up beside her, a blank look carefully etched onto her face._

" _H-He is…?" Sora looked unsure, fisting the front of her shirt nervously. "C-...can I bring Riku with me?" she asked, on the off chance something went wrong._

" _Hmm, all right. Be careful though, he has only just woken up, we don't want to push him, children." The mayor said in warning before ushering them into the room where Kai was being kept._

 _Riku's first thought had been how lucky Sora was to have found such an incredible person._

 _Kai was like a dream come true, in more ways than could be explained._

" _Hello." He greeted with eyes the purest shade of blue. His hair a deep, rich mahogany red-auburn, Riku mentally corrected-fair skinned with the kind of smile that a prince or princess might wear when saying hello. He was clothed in a simple white button-up and slacks._

" _Uh...ummm..."Sora started to say. Riku gave her a rough nudge, shaking her head in annoyance._

" _H...hey..."Sora finally forced out the greeting, blushing madly under the new boy's stare._

" _You're hopeless." Riku muttered, rolling her eyes._

" _W-what was that?" Sora said, whirling around to face her best friend. "Shut up! Like you're any better, you haven't said a word."_

 _Kai watched them go back and forth, words turning into biting remarks which then changed to full-blown insults. Over the top gestures being given, and mentions of memories in which Kai had no knowledge of. Finally when he was sure they had been going on for a good solid five minutes, did he finally speak up._

" _Sora."_

 _The two girls stopped. The slightly smaller one looking slack-jawed suddenly. Slowly they turned, Sora's previous shyness completely forgotten._

" _You...you can talk?" Sora inquired._

" _Of course he can talk!"Riku scolded, lightly smacking her in the back of the head._

" _Please stop." The boy said quietly, swinging his legs off the side of the bed, moving to get up. He swayed for a moment, which was Riku and Sora's cue to rush over, each taking a side to support. "I'm sorry. It's just...that man, who introduced himself as the mayor said" he turned his gaze towards Sora causing a spark of jealousy inside of Riku "the name of the one who found me was Sora."_

" _Is that you?" Sora nodded. "I see. Thank you then."_

" _Where did you come from?" Riku asked suddenly, cutting off whatever Sora had been about to say. The boy turned, this time causing a small amount of pink to dust poor Riku's cheeks._

" _I'm sorry, but um...who are you?" He asked after a moment, smiling kindly._

" _R-..Riku. Sora's friend." She answered, averting her eyes._

" _Riku. And Sora." He repeated the names, still smiling that bright, happy smile. "My name is Kaito. And...I'm sorry to say, but...I don't...r-remember where-Aah!" He gasped in pain, a hand moving to clutch at his head._

" _Kai!" Sora said urgently. "Hey it's okay. Don't try and remember if it hurts too bad, okay!?"_

 _Riku hated seeing this boy in pain. Still, she hated how Sora seemed able to comfort him even more for some reason._

 _He was proof there were worlds other than their own out there._

" _Kai?" He mumbled looking back towards Sora who nodded happily._

" _Yeah, it's uh...like a nickname!" She stated, looking especially proud of herself. "Y-you and me, w-we're gonna be friends. Right? Then..friends give one another nicknames all the time. Yours can be Kai, and mine can be..."_

" _Idiot." Riku interjected dryly._

" _Hey, shut up!"_

Kai laughed a little bit, smiling for the first time since arriving that day. Riku never knew laughter could sound so soothing, and a small part of Riku liked to think it wasn't all due to Sora.

Riku _liked_ spending time with Sora; still considering the girl to be her best friend and all, and of course by extension she liked being with Sora AND Kai together. Still, the few instances where it has been just _her_ and Kai. He was just so _different. Special._

" _Sora?"_

 _Riku heaved a sigh walking along the wooden bridge. This was the last place he hadn't checked. After another loss to her, Sora had took off yelling something about training and how she 'would get her next time!' Then disappeared. She had asked Tidus and the others if they'd seen her, and after a couple sparring matches with them-at their insistence, and just to get them out of her hair for a little bit-she left, scouring the island for her best friend._

' _Maybe she went back home? It is getting dark out.' Riku thought holding her chin, tapping a foot._

" _Oh hello Riku." A familiar voice called out._

 _Riku's head snapped to the side and up feeling her heart beat just a little faster. It was Kai. He was sitting in her favorite spot on the twisted tree trunk, and he was holding something in his lap._

" _Oh hey Kai." She greeted back. For a moment, all thoughts of Sora were washed away, making her feel lighter somehow._

" _If you're looking for Sora, I'm afraid she already left." Kai said apologetically, not at all seeming bothered when Riku took the seat beside him. "Something about needing to get an early start on training. Were you two...fighting again?" Riku saw the slight wince, knowing full-well how much Kai didn't like it when they fought._

" _I figured as much." Riku bit out before shaking her head. "Nothing serious. Besides it's not fair to you-your the one who always treats the bruises we get." Kai's cheeks became dusted with a comely pink offering a tentative smile that made Riku melt. Not that she'd ever show it._

" _I-It's no trouble, really. What are friends for, after all." Kai said._

 _Riku looked at him with her intense eyes. The last rays of the sun were just peeking over the horizon and caught on Kai's lightly tousled hair, giving it a warm, fiery glow while swaying gently in the sea breeze. His eyes were glittering brightly with a hidden joy while looking down towards his lap, over time his skin had regained some more of it's color evening out to a nice fair shade._

" _Is that a paopu fruit?" Riku inquired, nudging her chin towards his lap where the star-shaped fruit lay. She found it somehow endearing the way Kai's eyes lit up in innocent joy and excitement, like a kid on Christmas._

" _Oh yes! Sora told me, she said that if I share it with someone then...then me and that person will remain a part of each other's lives forever." He finished solemnly. There was something strangely tender in his voice as the words left him. "I thought maybe, well, silly as it may sound it could be worth a try, you know?"_

" _Then why haven't you? It doesn't look like you've broken a piece off or anything yet." Riku said, more curious than anything. Did he maybe want to try it with Sora, is that the reason?_

" _Changed your mind?" Riku added._

" _No, it's um...it's not that at all, it's just..."When Kai lifted his gaze to meet hers, she almost froze. She swore her heart suddenly felt like a jackhammer, seeing the way he began fidgeting, like he wasn't entirely sure of something. Did...did he maybe want to share it with her?_

" _D-do you think it would still work if I...if I tried it with more than one person?"_

 _Riku inwardly deflated a little bit._

" _I-I was thinking maybe you, me and Sora could-"_

' _Of course.' Riku thought. Sometimes Kai was just too innocent and sincere for his own good._

" _-that is, um, if you two want to. I would never force you!"_

" _No. It's a cool idea." Riku admitted. She let her eyelids fall shut, breathing in a deep breath to compose herself internally before exhaling and re-opening her eyes, turning to focus her stare on Kai. "You know something Kai? You're a really nice person."_

 _Kai blinked, clearly not expecting the sudden compliment._

" _Oh I'm not that great, really. You and Sora are the amazing ones, I mean...I've seen you two fight-"_

" _And you hate it." Riku said with a light laugh._

" _-and I've also seen you two when you're out exploring together. Even I can tell how close you two are, like sisters." He smiled softly. "It's heart-warming sometimes to watch the two of you."_

" _Hey...Kai?"Riku's voice came out surprisingly soft._

" _Hm?"_

 _Just as he turned, Kai felt himself freeze, his body turning bright tomato red. Riku's cool lips pressed against his cheek in the form of a tender kiss, pulling away as quickly as she had done it and hopping off the tree trunk._

" _I'm really glad you came here." She said without turning back._

 _She turned, starting down the path home for the day._

Riku never regretted what she did. A part of her wondered if Sora ever found out, or maybe even if Kai might have regretted it. If he did, then he never mentioned it, though with someone like him it maybe due to his kindness.

If Sora was the fire, and her the ice. Then Kai was something entirely different; Kai was the light.

* * *

 **Review.**

 **I've decided to try a new thing where whoever reviews, I'll send you a little drabble of sorts-kind of similar to the secret movies that play at the end of a game-basically showing potential plot twists hinted at for later.**

 **Also let me know what you think of how things are progressing, along with the characters so far.**


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